Press Room

From Zion National Park in Utah to the Everglades in Florida and from Yellowstone in Wyoming to Valley Forge in Pennsylvania, America’s national parks are in a state of serious disrepair today that will require the immediate attention in 2009 of the new President and Congress, according to a major new statement from the 690-member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR). But this also means that there is a major economic stimulus opportunity – one strikingly similar to that seized upon in the wake of the Great Depression -- to revitalize our national parks and the fraying infrastructure related to them, the group noted.

A new Bush Administration revised regulation could significantly diminish visitors’ experience on backcountry trails and put increased pressures on Park Service employees, according to the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees and The Wilderness Society. The groups also called the proposed regulation another attempt by the administration to weaken protections for the National Park System.

The preliminary plan outlined yesterday by the National Park Service (NPS) to allow significant changes to the ground and site for the historic "Gateway Arch" in St. Louis is being opposed by the 675-member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR).

More than three out of four (77 percent) of 1,400 present and former employees of the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) predict that the controversial Department of Interior (DOI) proposed rule reversing the long-standing prohibition of carrying loaded, concealed weapons in National Parks and Wildlife Refuges will have an adverse affect on the ability of NPS and USFWS employees to accomplish their mission.

NPS RETIREES TO HOLD MEDIA AVAILABILITY DURING NPS SUPERINTENDENTS SUMMIT 2008

Where should you go this summer and fall if you want to escape the rising tide of man-made sound? Where can you go to find quiet or a chorus of natural sounds, such as wind, water, birds, frogs, bugs and rustling leaves?

New Battle at the Little Bighorn Planned "Temporary" Visitor Center in Center of Battlefield Draws Historians' Ire

With plans advancing for a controversial development on 78 privately held acres inside Valley Forge National Historical Park, the 640-member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) today are applauding U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne for what he has done so far to avoid endorsing the planned Disney-style private hotel-tavern-restaurant-convention-center-museum complex.

A proposed regulation will be released on April 30, that, if approved, would allow for loaded, concealed handguns in national parks. CNPSR released the following statement about the proposed regulation.

WASHINGTON, D.C.///March 12, 2008///The 640-member Coalition of National Park Service Retirees (CNPSR) today warned that the integrity of Valley Forge National Historical Park in Pennsylvania is at risk because of a proposed development plan for 78 privately held acres within the boundaries of the park. CNPSR urged the U.S. Department of Interior and National Park Service (NPS) to break their silence and speak out against the unfolding “siege” on Valley Forge.